Training is almost over!

Hello all! So, training is almost over. We leave our training sites on Sunday and all come together again for a couple more days of training and then we go to UB for swearing in. We find out Sunday where our permanent sites are going to be. Everyone is quite anxious and ready to start their permanent assignments. I know I am. We have Mongolian language tests and our final evaluations on Friday. I'm not sure how I'm going to do on the language test. I think I know enough to live by myself but not carry on any deep conversations. I can shop by myself and navigate transportation, so I think I'll be ok. If you fail the language test, the PC pays for a tutor for you at your site. If you pass the language test (and they're looking for us to be at high novice level), then a tutor is still a good idea but PC won't pay for it. So there is a certain advantage to not passing. Of course, I will do my best! Last weekend we had a community appreciation event and a host family celebration. For the community appreciation event, we painted lines on the concrete volleyball court outside the elementary school. We also painted a bench and some tires that are stuck in the ground as an obstacle course. We had an American bbq for our host family celebration. We had German potato salad, baked beans, a green salad (with broccoli and actual lettuce!), and hamburgers. The families thought it was great! I went to UB with a few other trainees and our language teachers on Saturday to shop for the bbq. We had a great time in UB. We ate dinner there and had pizza and french fries. It was a real treat! It was kind of expensive though, on a PC budget. Well, I've got to go. I'm helping with dinner tonight. We're having tsuivan, which is a common Mongolian dish which has--surprise, surprise--cabbage, mutton, and carrots. Hopefully for my next post, I'll be at my permanent site! P.S. The picture is me with my host family (minus my host sister, Bolormaa). We took this picture for the PC certificate I gave to my family.